Communication Center Journal 3 - Vol. 7, No. 1, 2021 - The Science Behind Learning: Practical Applications of Curiosity, Sociality, and Emotion in Communication Center Consultations

Oct 15, 2026

Communication Center Journal article argues that communication centers must equip adaptable, resilient critical thinkers and provide early career support for strong communication skills. It explains how interdisciplinary research helps consultants guide students across majors, especially in peer tutoring models. Training practices and strategies are outlined, emphasizing translating technical content for non-technical audiences and moving beyond communication-study jargon. Eyler’s learning science principles—curiosity, sociality, and emotion—are proposed as a consultant framework to improve consultation outcomes and foster learning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Communication Center Journal

Interdisciplinary Framework for Consultation

Three Learning Principles and Practices for Communication Centers

Foster Curiosity

Communication Center Journal 3 Vol. 7, No. 1, 2021 The Science Behind Learning: Practical Applications of Curiosity, Sociality, and Emotion in Communication Center Consultations Jennifer Butler Ellis Northern Illinois University Ellen Stuart Northern Illinois University Our constantly changing world requires professionals who are adaptable and resilient critical thinkers with strong communication skills. As businesses and organizations demand that new hires demonstrate these abilities earlier in their careers, educators must find resources to help students develop these critical skills. Communication centers play a critical role in student engagement (Strawser, Apostel, Carpenter, Cuny, Dvorak, & Head, 2020) and are often strategically positioned to provide support to educators and students from a wide variety of disciplines. Although communication centers have been historically housed in communication departments, centers have successfully crossed boundaries and reached out to or partnered with other disciplines such as science/nanoscience (Cuny, EllisHarrison, & Williams, 2019; Schwartzman, Kirchoff, & Cuny, 2019), advertising (Brown, Rapp, Wallace, Torreano, Rabine, & Johnson, 2019), and business/accounting (Ellis, West, Grimaldi, & Root, 2013) . As communication centers cross disciplinary boundaries, exploring and applying research from other fields provides important insight and guidance for communication center directors and consultants as they develop strategies to successfully connect with and support students from fields that are different from their own. Creating an interdisciplinary framework is particularly important in communication centers that use a peer tutoring model. Research supports that peer tutoring or consulting “can supplement an instructor’s capacity to assist student learning at various stages along the way”(Atkins-Sayre & Yook, 2015, p. xi) . To maximize consultation time and effectiveness, consultants must focus on a variety of strategies for helping to enhance the learning process and assisting students in developing effective communication skills. Communication center consultants typically go through training programs that include academic readings, discussion of consulting techniques and feedback delivery, shadowing, and direct observation of consultations with follow-up discussions (similar to the technique described by Book & McCoy, 2015) . As communication centers expand their reach and engage with students from other disciplines, consultants should be comfortable helping students take technical content and present it in a way that technical, as well as non-technical, audiences will understand—learning how to simplify language or tell the story behind the numbers, data, or process (see Ellefson, Stengrim, Fourney, & Wingo, 2019 for an example) . Furthermore, as centers cross disciplinary boundaries, consultants must “step out of the jargon box of communication studies…to make their feedback Communication Center Journal 4 Vol. 7, No. 1, 2021 accessible to other audiences”(Schwarzman, Kirchoff, & Cuny, 2019, p. 96) . Thus, providing communication consultants with guiding principles that set the stage for learning is critical to improve outcomes and move consultants away from the “jargon box”—insider language or terminology not understood by everyone—particularly when working with students from other majors or disciplines. Through his research on the science of learning, Eyler (2018) has identified and developed three principles that can be used to create a helpful framework for consultants and should be incorporated into the consultant training program. This framework would give consultants amore extensive understanding of ways to support and enhance student learning, regardless of disciplinary background. Generally, consultants want students to learn, grow, and improve communication skills, so understanding principles that foster student learning increases the likelihood of

FAQs

Why do communication centers matter for student learning and engagement?

Communication centers support student engagement and help educators and students develop essential communication skills. They are positioned to provide targeted assistance across disciplines.

How should consultants prepare for interdisciplinary consultations?

Consultants should be trained through readings, technique discussions, shadowing, and observation. They must also learn to simplify language and make feedback accessible to non-technical audiences while stepping beyond jargon.

What are the three learning principles emphasized for improving consultation outcomes?

The framework focuses on encouraging curiosity, sociality, and emotion, based on the science of learning. These principles help consultants support learning regardless of students’ disciplinary backgrounds.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by WPS_1790064749